Tuesday, 6th July, 2010
Sylvain Chavanel's feat should not be underestimated

SYLVAIN Chavanel made it a day to savour for the Belgian QuickStep team by winning the Tour de France stage from Brussels to Spa. It was a huge feat for Patrick Levefere's squad as Chavanel also pulled on the Yellow Leader's jersey after the stage.

But the success of the French rider was overshadowed by the carnage created on the descent of the Col de Stockeu where almost all of the General Classification favourites experienced first hand how rough the surface of the Ardennes roads can be.

I felt it coming on the tricky Col de Stockeu. But again, the racing was very nervous, right from the gun.The peloton refused to let a small break with Aussie Matthew Lloyd get out to more than seven minutes at first. During the climb of the Col de Stockeu, Chavanel and Roelandts rode away from that leading group. One of the chasing riders, Franscesco Gavazzi, hit the deck on the descent and brought down a motorbike.
The wet road proved very slippery and the hazardous descent caused more havoc in the peloton.
 
Saxo Bank's Andy Schleck, one of my picks for the overall win, went down hard and not just once but twice.
The younger of the Schleck brothers continued, on team-mate Matti Breschel's bike and he lost three minutes in no time.

Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador, previous winners of the Tour de France, had also had an unpleasant encounter with the asphalt and both were caught in a second group - behind the race leader Fabian Cancellara.

Yellow Jersey wearer Cancellara, as always fair and truely the peloton's “Mr. Congeniality,” took the initiative to discuss the situation with Tour de France Technical Director Jean-Francois Pescheux.

It was decided that the peloton would regroup by waiting for Armstrong and the smaller bunch containing the Schleck brothers. This great gesture virtually safe guarded Chavanel's stage win and offered him the Yellow Jersey on a silver platter. The peloton crossed the line in harmony minutes later, without sprinting.

A lot of discussion arose already during the wait for the re-grouping of the riders caught behind in the earlier carnage, and even more so after the finish.
Many were of the opinion that the riders knew the weather and road circumstances before the start and that the most logical reaction would have been to reduce speed on the windy descent.
Others thought ASO, the organiser of the Tour de France, was to blame for sending the peloton down that hill.
 
I have raced this climb and descent many times, and in dry conditions there never was a problem.
During the dry and extreme heat of the last 10 days, cars might have put a film of oil on the road surface and caused it to be very slippery in sudden wet conditions.

I listened to a lot of people's opinion: Sports Directors, riders and spectators.Yours truely is convinced the right decision was made considering all factors and most of all the fact that we all want this to be an exciting and thrilling race.

The riders have only raced three days and there's still 18 stages to come. It would have been sad to see some magnificent contenders for the overall win in Paris handicapped by injuries and unfortunate time-loss on top of that this early in the race. I support ASO's decision and hope that the riders will have got enough rest to lick their wounds and recuperate before today's run over the ruthless stretches of cobbles in the north of France.

The solidarity shown by the riders on the stage was great, but I can not hide my disappointment as I had anticipated some fireworks of a different kind.

I wonder if we will witness the same compassion by the riders in today's gruelling stage in the event of more chaos. I'm not convinced, but what I do know, is that more suspense is a given!

*Scott Sunderland was national road champion at 19 before going to Europe to forge a professional career. Since hanging up his bike he's been involved in team management at CSC, the forerunner to Saxo Bank, Cervelo Test Team and the News Corporation-backed Team Sky